The Book Signing Chronicles

One of my besties, Misti and I have this thing.  We love books.  We love talking about books, deciding which books to read, discussing what we like and don't like about the books we are currently reading.  And we've discovered that we love meeting people who write books.  There is something exciting about seeing the typically anonymous person behind your favorite book. 

Sunday we headed out to meet James Dashner, author of The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, and The Death Cure (among others).  Don't panic when you read the titles...they aren't full of death and dying...well, a little...oh, never mind.  Misti and I read The Maze Runner a while ago and were both intrigued. 

James Dashner is actually from Georgia, and he was really pretty funny during his signing "discussion".  All of his books are geared to younger audiences so there were quite a few pre-teens in the audience which was pretty entertaining in itself.  (Cue two thirty-something girls trying to not be embarrased to be sitting next to twelve year olds who are FAR greater fans than they are.) 

It was really encouraging to see these kids, though.  I always worry that newer generations won't get the whole reading thing.  The love of it all, the smell of a freshly printed, a never-cracked spine. (cue this thirty-something referring to kids a the younger generation - gosh, I feel old).

Cue two thirty-something girls embarassing themselves in the middle of Barnes & Noble.

We went...we waited...we saw....Marlboro Man?

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time you know I'm a big fan of Ree Drummond a.k.a. The Pioneer Woman.  Her new book, Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, is out and she was in Atlanta for a signing this Friday.  So, of course, Misti, my book signing bestie, and a couple of newbies went out for the big event.

We talked about this a little while we were waiting in line, but in all honesty, Ree is a sincere and genuine "celebrity".  She took time to talk with everyone.  And seemed truly happy that we were there, thankful, even.  I would have loved the entire thing even more  if she had read an excerpt from the book.

And wouldn't you know it....she brought Marlboro Man.  He too spent a lot of time with everyone.  We even got to talk about his nickname and how he feels about it...not the name he would have chosen...but I think mostly because his fellow cowboys use it to give him a hard time. 

Another book signing under our cowboy belts....and the best one so far.

Pioneer Woman

So, I’ve spent a good part of today waiting to have Ree Drummond aka Pioneer Woman sign her new cookbook. 
Misti and I arrived at Border’s around 1pm to pick up our wristbands and found out that the signing had been moved up to 6pm – which was great, except it meant the powers-that-be had decided to cancel the discussion and q&a session – boo.  Oh well.  I would have loved to hear her speak, but it was super nice to be able to meet her and take a quick photo. 
We stood in line for an hour and forty-five minutes once the signing started.  It really wasn’t bad at all.  I was pretty impressed by how friendly everyone was.  I didn’t notice anyone with a snarky attitude.  We made friends with several people and had fun looking at all of the books on the shelves while we traveled down the line. 
One of the funniest moments was seeing this guy meet Ree and have his photo taken.  He was there to have his Mom’s book signed – super cute!

When Misti and I finally got to Ree – she was amazingly warm and seemed genuinely happy to meet us!  Amazing, considering she had already been through the same routine with about 200 people and there were many, many more after us.  And she’s even more gorgeous in person!

We even chatted with Hyacinth (on of P-dub’s besties) after moving through the line!.
So happy that we went – and another book signing memory!  Hope there are more just as wonderful to come!